Taunted
by Wakkowarnerlover
Summary: Perry discovers that Ferb is being bullied by two of Phineas's new friends, but Ferb refuses to tell Phineas because he doesn't want to upset him. Perry, however, starts to worry about Ferb when the situation keeps getting worse.
1. Chapter 1

Perry had been sleeping peacefully until he heard thunder crackle furiously outside. He jolted awake and looked around.

Phineas sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Rain." He murmured.

Ferb sat up as well. He looked out the window, and then slumped back down against his pillow.

"I'll be right back." Phineas crawled out of bed and left the room.

Perry felt drowsy as the rain pattered against the window. He slowly started to fall asleep.

Another crash sounded from outside. Perry yawned and went over to Phineas's pillow. He patted down a spot and curled up.

He glanced over at Ferb. Ferb was staring nervously at the wall in front of his bed. He was shaking a little.

"It's not going to fall over." Perry said sleepily.

"Hm?" Ferb asked.

"The wall isn't going to come down from the rain. If that's what you were worried about."

Ferb blinked and shook his head.

"Something's up." Perry said. "You okay?"

"Nightmare." Ferb said quietly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Ferb shook his head.

"All right." Perry jumped down from Phineas's bed and hopped up next to Ferb. He curled up on the blankets.

"This morning you said you would tell us stories from when you were younger." Ferb whispered.

"I'll tell you some in the morning. I'll be less tired then."

Ferb sat and looked at his hands in silence.

"Are you going back to sleep?" Perry asked.

Ferb shook his head.

"All right." Perry yawned again. "I'll see if I can recall a story. When Phineas gets back, I'll tell one."

Ferb shook his head again.

"You're sure nothing's wrong?"

"You said the other agents used to pick on you all the time." Ferb said.

"Yeah. Not fun."

"What was it like?"

"Awful. But I had Terrence to back me up."

"Was Terrence friends with any of the nasty agents?"

"No."

"Ah." Ferb looked down at his hands again.

Perry got the feeling Ferb wanted to hear about it. He sighed and wrapped his tail around his paws.

"Other agents kept getting on me all the time, and as a result I was pretty aggressive by the time I was a year old, so Monogram had to put me in Anger Management after I sent an agent into intensive care… honestly, I don't get why. It made me feel better to hit them than to put up with their constant teasing. They always say if you ignore them, it goes away, but it really doesn't. It sometimes just makes it worse. I either wound up crying, or in Anger Management..."

* * *

_"Now." Fred the fennec fox said. "What do you do when someone makes you angry?"_

_"I punch them." Perry said._

_Fred sighed. "I meant, what SHOULD you do when someone makes you angry?"_

_"That's a completely different question. How was I supposed to know you meant that?"_

_"Perry." Fred said calmly. "What should you do when someone makes you angry? We've gone over this."_

_Perry clenched his teeth. "I take a deep breath and count to twenty."_

_"And then what do you do if you're still angry?"_

_"I count to twenty again."_

_"And if you're still angry?"_

_"I count to twenty again."_

_Fred smiled. "Very good."_

_"So let me get this straight." Perry said. "Basically, if someone insults me, I'm supposed to sit there and count to twenty a bunch of times? How does this benefit me?"_

_"This is Anger Management." Fred said. "You benefit by managing your anger."_

_Perry growled._

_Fred covered his head. "Let's calm down."_

_Perry stopped growling._

_Fred gave him a piece of candy. "Good. Now, let's try to figure out the source of your anger."_

_"The other animal agents."_

_"Perhaps you've been having some trouble somewhere?"_

_"Yeah. The other agents try to beat me up."_

_"Yes, but is there some deeper source?"_

_"LISTEN, bucko!" Perry grabbed Fred and pulled him up to his face. "I get ANGRY when people try to BEAT ME UP and MAKE ME FEEL BAD. THAT IS WHEN I GET ANGRY."_

_"Please don't hurt me!" Fred said in a small voice._

_Perry sighed and dropped Fred back down._

_"I do believe we'll need to have a lot of sessions." Fred said shakily._

_"I don't WANT any more sessions." Perry grumbled._

_"You need them."_

_"I DON'T! NEED! ANGER MANAGEMENT!" Perry yelled, slamming his fist down on the desk._

_The desk cracked loudly._

_Fred hid underneath his chair. "You're dismissed for today." He whimpered. "I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Perry stormed out of Fred's office. Terrence the turkey was waiting for him outside._

_"It's kind of funny to hear someone scream 'I don't need anger management' and then a huge bang." Terrence said._

_"Shut up." Perry growled._

_"Shut what up?" Terrence asked._

_"I don't know." Perry said. "Shut up is just what all the older agents say all the time when they're mad."_

_"Don't be mad." Terrence said, patting him on the back. "Agent L totally deserved that."_

_"She told me to make sure I used… the floo. Hm. Floats…"_

* * *

Perry woke up when he felt a kick in the side. "OW! I'm not dead! Ferb, you're as bad as Phineas."

"You fell asleep in the middle of the story." Ferb said.

"Sorry. Where was I?"

"You were telling Terrence what Agent L said."

"Oh. Right. Agent L told me to make sure I used the floor that day. When I was really little, I went on the agency's tile and Monogram slipped in it. The agents never let me hear the end of it."

"Did they just make fun of you for that, or was there more?"

"Of course there was more. They'd physically shove me around, lock me in rooms, corner me and beat me up… and then there was the verbal abuse." Perry sighed. "It was like everyone was against me. Except for the more mature agents, who just thought I was cute. Terrence was the only friend I had."

"When did they finally stop making fun of you?"

"I fought off attacking bears at age three while the mean agents stood cowering by the wall. Ever since then, only Darren the duck picked on me. And he's cool now."

"Oh." Ferb bit his lip and looked at the wall.

"You need to know anything else?"

"Um…" Ferb rubbed his arm. "No."

"Ferb." Perry said slowly. "Are people picking on you?"

Ferb nodded. He turned his head away, but Perry could still see the tears.

"At school?"

Ferb nodded again.

"What have they done?"

Ferb opened his mouth, but Phineas came into the room at that moment.

"Sorry." Phineas stumbled over to bed. "I was in the bathroom, but I was so tired I fell asleep on the toilet."

Perry snorted.

"It's not funny." Phineas said defensively.

Ferb closed his mouth and lay down.

"Why are you guys still awake?" Phineas asked.

"I was telling Ferb…"

Ferb rapidly shook his head.

"…that you should always brush your teeth after every meal." Perry said quickly.

Phineas climbed into bed. It only took a few minutes for him to fall asleep.

"Phineas doesn't know people have been teasing you?" Perry whispered as soon as he heard Phineas's breathing become steady.

Ferb shook his head.

"You should tell him." Perry advised. "He's your brother. He loves you. He'll stick up for you."

Ferb shook his head. He closed his eyes.

"Ferb, you know he will. You mean everything to him."

Ferb didn't move.

Perry curled up at the base of Ferb's bed. "I really think you need to tell him. He could help you."

"They're friends." Ferb said.

"Who are?"

"Phineas and them." Ferb said, his voice shaking. "The people who are awful to me are his friends."

"Isabella, Buford and Baljeet?"

"No. His new friends. I can't tell him."

Perry frowned. "You should."

Ferb said nothing more. Perry waited a long while before falling asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Perry burst into Doofenshmirtz's room.

"Ah, Perry the platypus." Doofenshmirtz said. "I was starting to worry. That's the problem, isn't it? We always worry about things. Like, for instance, yesterday I dropped my daughter off at some concert, and then I couldn't enjoy the rest of the day because I just kept _worrying _about her. So I decided to go down and spy on her at the concert because I literally couldn't do anything else. I just kept worrying. And that went okay, I mean, nothing happened to her, but I spent the whole time worrying that something was GOING to. And you know what? At the end of the day, when I told her how much I had worried, she told me I was getting paranoid. And that was when I got a brilliant idea! See, I'm going to use this... oh, I didn't introduce it first, sorry. My first statement just went so well into my evil monologue that I... anyway, BEHOLD, THE WORRYINATOR! With this inator, I will blast the entire Tri-State Area and make everyone worry that my brother Roger isn't REALLY the best mayor! And then, in mass fear, they will oust him and I shall come forward to assume the position of mayor! Don't look at me like that, Perry the platypus. This is a brilliant plan. AND NOW, TO ACTIVATE MY CREATION-"

Perry leaped at Doofenshmirtz and shoved him to the ground.

"Oh. I forgot to trap you, too. I'm really not that on the ball today, am I? Like I said, I was worried!"

Perry slammed Doofenshmirtz against the side of his inator. Doofenshmirtz kicked him back into the wall.

Perry grabbed his fedora and threw it.

It smashed into the self-destruct button, and the inator exploded.

"Oh, why do I feel so WORRIED all of a sudden?" Doofenshmirtz asked, looking a little dizzy from the explosion. "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"

Perry felt a little bad as he jetpacked away. He didn't want Doofenshmirtz to feel worried.

Great, now he was worried about Doofenshmirtz.

* * *

Perry padded into the living room and jumped on Phineas's lap. Phineas was playing some video game and sitting next to two boys Perry didn't know.

"Who's that?" One of the boys, who had brown hair, asked.

"That's Perry." Phineas said. He pressed a button on his controller. "Our pet platypus."

"You have a pet platypus?" The other boy asked. "That's so cool! I just have a rat. He's boring."

"Perry's a good boy." Phineas said. He stroked Perry's back. Perry started to purr.

Ferb walked into the room, but stopped when he saw the two boys. He started to back out.

"And who's that?" The brown-haired boy asked in an innocent tone.

"Oh, you know Ferb." Phineas said. "He's my brother. Ferb, I introduced you to Benny and Jack, right?" He pointed at each boy as he spoke their names.

"Oh yeah." Benny said. "Hiiiiiiii, Ferb."

Ferb kept his head down and went over to the computer.

Perry growled.

"So we can do three-player on this game." Phineas said, handing a controller to each boy. "It's really fun. You're a rock star on the run from police, and you can customize your character."

"Cool." Jack said.

"Can you customize the policeman?" Perry asked. "And put him in a pink sparkly outfit?"

"Why a pink sparkly outfit?" Phineas asked.

"I didn't ask about a pink sparkly outfit." Benny said.

"The game's starting." Phineas said.

A computer-animated man came onscreen. "You are a rockstar. You were partying all night on the roof, and a policeman saw you."

"Shame on you, Phineas." Perry said. "Partying on a roof is highly illegal. And I can't believe you never told me. I found out about it from a computer guy. I am heartbroken."

"Thank goodness he talks normal." Jack said. "I had another game where the narrator had a stupid British accent and I was like, 'We're in AMERICA! No one can understand what you're saying when you talk all weird like that!'"

Benny laughed. "British accents are so weird. It's like they think they're better than us or something. They're such disgusting, smug voices."

Ferb steamed, but he kept his back facing the boys.

Perry tried to fight the urge to claw Benny's face off.

"Guys, that's not nice." Phineas said quietly. "And my brother is from England."

"Ooohhh, I forgot." Benny said sarcastically. "I'm sorry, Ferb."

"Reaally sorry." Jack said.

Phineas was too oblivious to notice his friends' sarcasm and kept his focus on the game. Perry bit Benny's shorts.

"Ow!" Benny said.

"Perry!" Phineas scolded. He pulled Perry off. "I'm sorry. I think he mistook the button on your pocket for a piece of candy or something."

"Don't worry, it's cool." Benny said.

"I'm making my character a ninja." Jack said, changing the clothing on the virtual man on the screen.

"I'm making a weird guy." Said Benny.

"You can dye their hair different colors." Phineas said.

Benny started to laugh. "Oh my gosh! Look! I made him have green hair!"

Jack started laughing too. "Dude, that's disgusting! Who ever heard of green hair? It's like swamp monster hair!"

Ferb got up and left the room.

Perry jumped down and followed him.

"The purple hair is really weird." Phineas was saying. "It looks like it's pink, but the game calls it purple."

Ferb sat down at the kitchen table, fighting back tears. Perry poured him a glass of water.

"They're horrible." He said, handing the water to Ferb.

Ferb nodded and wiped his eyes.

"Is that how it works all the time? They make fun of you indirectly when Phineas is around?"

Ferb nodded again. "And when he's not around, they're even worse."

"That's terrible. Do they sit with Phineas at lunch? Is that why you don't-"

"Yes." Ferb said. "They're together a lot. And I want to be with Phineas, but I don't want to go anywhere near them."

"You don't have to just sit there and take it, you know."

"Normally I wouldn't." Ferb looked down at his water glass. "But... Phineas likes them."

"Phineas doesn't know. And anyway, they're not being good friends to him at all by messing with you. You really should tell..."

Benny came into the kitchen. Perry got down into his pet form.

"I'm just getting a soda." Benny said. He got a can out of the fridge and gave Ferb a nasty smile. "Were you crying?"

"No." Ferb said.

"Aww. Do you miss your REEALL mommy?" Benny crowed. "I feel sorry for Phineas. He has to call some random kid his brother just because his mom got married to some other guy. If my mom married your dad, I'd just have to move. So what happened? Did his mom like rich old British daddy? Is that why she married him?"

Perry growled deeply.

Ferb swallowed and kept his focus on his water glass.

"I bet that's exactly what happened." Benny said. "Those poor Flynns. They manage to snag some fancy guy, but then they get stuck with his snooty green-haired son. What is with your hair, anyway? Did you dye it? Or did it DIE?"

"I will eat him." Perry said. "Just say the word, and I will rip his stomach out."

Ferb didn't say anything."

"Are you hot? Your face is turning red." Benny poured some of his soda on Ferb's head.

Ferb didn't react. He just stared into his waterglass and allowed the liquid to drip down his face.

Benny smirked. "That should cool you down. Well, I'm gonna get back to the game. Byyyeeee, Ferrrb."

He left.

Perry grabbed a fork and started to throw it, but Ferb shook his head. Perry got a towel instead and dried him off.

"Nothing that jerk said was true." Perry said. "You know that, right?"

Ferb's eyes were watery. He looked down at the floor.

"You mean everything to Phineas. He loves having you around. And of course you two are related. Maybe not by blood, but definitely by family. You know that. You know your parents love each other, and all of you guys. You're a family. And nothing that creep says will change that."

Ferb sniffled.

"Let's go up to your room. We'll lock them out. And we can watch something together."

Ferb stood up and shuffled toward the stairs.

"And if he tries to poke his Benny butt back into your business, we'll kick him to Alaska."

"Benny butt." Ferb almost smiled.

"Benny Butthead."

* * *

"Guys, why'd you lock the door?" Phineas called through the door to his room.

"Um… I don't know." Perry said.

"Unlock it!"

"Are your friends gone?"

"What does that have to do with my door?"

"Are they gone?"

"Yeah, they went home."

Ferb unlocked the door. Phineas came in and climbed up on his bed.

"You should have played Rebel Rockstar with us, Ferb." Phineas said. "It was really awesome."

"Didn't want to." Ferb said.

"But you're so good at that game!"

"We can play it now." Ferb said.

"Okay." Phineas said. He looked a little confused, but he seemed relieved as well. Perry realized this was one of the first real conversations Ferb had had with Phineas in a while.

"Perry, do you want to play?" Phineas asked.

"You think I'm the type of guy who parties on roofs all the time? Yeah, sure, why not. You start the game up. Ferb and I will come down in a second."

Phineas went downstairs. Perry turned to Ferb.

"You need to tell him." Perry said.

"I don't want to make him upset." Ferb said. "Besides, they're his friends."

"You can't just let them torment you like that! I _hated_ what Benny said to you. They're just plain malicious. And they're not really his friends. You do realize that. Friends don't do things like this. Phineas would never befriend anyone who hurt you or said those things. What they said would have hurt him, too."

"If he knew…" Ferb said. "I… I don't think I could take it if he didn't stick up for me."

"You know he would stick up for you. He'd never side with those jerks. You mean more to him than anything in the world, Ferb."

Ferb shook his head. "I don't want to tell him."

"Then at least tell your parents."

Ferb shook his head again.

"Ferb, you've gotta get someone to help you. You can't just sit around and take that. Now you know I'll do whatever I can. I was serious when I said I'd tear Benny apart. But I can't do much to help. I'm a platypus. _Please _tell someone."

"I can handle it." Ferb looked down at his hands. "I think... maybe."

"The game is up!" Phineas said, poking his head through the doorway. "And mom and dad are home! They brought Chinese food for dinner!"

"Yum." Perry said. "Be right there."

Phineas skipped away. Perry turned back to Ferb.

"They're just gonna keep tormenting you."

"It would make Phineas feel sad." Ferb replied.

He left the room without another word.

"You're sad." Perry said to the empty room. "And Phineas would be more upset about you being bullied than finding out his friends are buttheads."


	3. Chapter 3

Perry liked his afternoon walk. He liked being able to roll around in grass and eat flowers.

"Perry, don't eat the sunflower." Phineas said, tugging on the leash.

Perry ignored him and continued to chew on the petals.

"Perry! Come on." Phineas tugged harder. Perry slid out of the grass and back onto the concrete sidewalk.

Ferb picked up the half-eaten sunflower and twirled it around in his fingers.

"This weekend, we should build a giant flower-growing machine." Phineas said. "I can't wait until it's summer again and we can make projects for months!"

Ferb nodded.

Perry sat down and sniffed the air.

"Perry!" Phineas dragged him along. His phone rang, and he handed the leash to Ferb while he answered it. "Hello? Oh, hey Jack!"

Ferb froze. Perry growled.

"No, I'm not doing anything today. Yeah, you can come over. I'm taking Perry for a walk with Ferb." Phineas listened for a moment. "Jack and Benny said to tell you hi and then bye, Ferb."

Ferb shrugged.

"Oh, okay. We'll see you when we get home, then. Bye!" Phineas hung up. "Guess who's coming over?"

"Pinhead Pierre." Perry said.

"Nooooo, Jack and Benny!"

"Oh." Perry said.

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "You guys don't look that excited."

"You can call us when they leave." Perry said. "We'll hang out at the park."

"Why?" Phineas demanded. "Don't you like them?"

"Uh…" Perry looked at Ferb.

"I promised Perry we would play at the park today." Ferb lied. "Just you and me and him."

"I would have gone to the park with you guys." Phineas said. "But now I have plans. Why can't we all just stay together?"

Perry scratched his side and didn't respond.

"Fine." Phineas said, looking hurt. "You two can go to the park, and I'll be at home." He turned and started walking in the other direction.

Ferb almost said something, but then decided against it. He gave a soft tug on the leash and led Perry toward the park.

* * *

"Pinky, have you seen Steve?"

"Who's Steve?" Pinky asked, looking up from a file he was searching through.

"Steve is a sandwich. He should be in my memory box." Perry dug around. "Were you playing with him or something?"

Pinky closed his eyes. "Oh. The sandwich. No. No, I would have never touched that thing."

"Steve couldn't have just gotten up and walked away. Well… maybe. It was a really moldy sandwich."

"I know." Pinky said. "Don't remind me."

"What did you say about Steve?" Darren the duck asked, poking his head into Perry's lair.

"Steve the sandwich got up and walked away." Perry said.

"OH! EWW!" Darren put a hand over his mouth. "Perry, just throw that sandwich out already!"

"You know, there's an agent fish who comes down in your lair sometimes." Pinky said. "I think her name is Blubbles or something. Maybe she took the sandwich."

"Blubbles." Perry growled. "That goldfish moved my sandwich." He went over to the elevator.

"Are you sure it was her?" Pinky asked.

"Certain. That fish does stupid things."

* * *

"Have you seen my sandwich?" Perry asked Blubbles.

Blubbles floated around in her bowl.

"I know you moved it."

"Blub." Said Blubbles.

Perry sighed. "I should have bought that fish dictionary from the bookstore."

Phineas came into the room. "Hey, Perry."

"Have you seen my sandwich?"

Phineas looked scared. "Yeah, if you mean a really moldy one that kept appearing everywhere. It was really freaky. First it was in the fridge, then it was under the bed, then it was on Ferb's pillow…"

"Where is it now?"

"I think Ferb has it."

Perry and Phineas went upstairs. Ferb was lying on his bed.

"Ferb, do you have Steve? He's a sentimental sandwich." Perry said.

"The haunted sandwich?" Ferb asked weakly.

"Yeah. That one we kept seeing everywhere."

"Yeah, I have it." Ferb rolled over and moaned.

"Ferb… you didn't…" Phineas began.

"He didn't what?" Perry asked, panicked. "Didn't what?"

"…Eat the sandwich?" Phineas finished.

Ferb nodded and groaned. "I was hungry. But it must have been really old."

"That sandwich was over THREE YEARS old!" Perry shouted. "Ferb, how could you? You killed Steve!"

"Looks like Steve's about to kill him." Phineas said.

"Call the paramedics or something." Perry said.

"Perry, that sandwich is long gone."

"Not for Steve! For Ferb! He ate a three-year old moldy sandwich!"

"Oh!" Phineas ran down the stairs. "MOOOOMMMM!"

* * *

"I can't believe Steve is gone." Perry said sadly. "I've kept that sandwich for years. Have you heard back from Lawrence?"

"Yeah. Dad said Ferb's gonna be okay." Phineas said, putting away his phone. "The hospital has to give him a ton of medicine, though."

"I'm glad. That sandwich might have been the end of him."

"Yeah." Phineas looked at the carpet.

"Phineas… about Jack and Benny…"

"They're nice, aren't they?"

"To you, yes. But haven't you noticed how they tend to hurt Ferb's feelings?"

Phineas shrugged. "They're just really outspoken. They talk before they think. But they always apologize."

"Sort of." Perry muttered.

"Sorry if you don't like them." Phineas said. "But since they're my friends, and you're my friend, I think you need to give them a chance. And Ferb needs to give them a chance, too."

"Ferb doesn't owe them anything. Look, Phineas, Ferb didn't want me to tell you, but... they purposefully hurt his feelings. They act like they aren't around you, but they still are."

"You probably misheard them." Phineas said.

"Phin, no. Benny flat-out bullied Ferb when we were alone in the kitchen. He said terrible things to him..."

"Well, then Ferb would have told me." Phineas said.

"He doesn't want to tell you. I'm not even supposed to be telling..."

"You know what I think?" Phineas folded his arms. "I think you're just mad because I haven't been hanging out with you as much. You don't have to make up stories about Benny and Jack, Perry. Ferb would have told me if they were really being mean to him."

"Just keep them away from Ferb." Perry snapped. He turned and walked away.

* * *

"Awww, awe you stuck in twaffic?"

Perry rolled his eyes and stared out the window. Being trapped in Doofenshmirtz's van wasn't always a picnic, but it was definitely intolerable when Doofenshmirtz had a new girlfriend and was on the phone with her CONSTANTLY.

"Thewe awe police cars on the little rooaaadd?" Doofenshmirtz crooned into the phone. "Awwww."

Perry rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.

"Maybe somebuddy had a wrecky-poo." Doofenshmirtz said.

Perry snorted. "Wrecky-poo. There's a new one."

"Aww. I'm sorry, sweetie."

"The wittle caws cwashed an had a wittle wrecky-poo." Perry mimicked.

His phone rang. Perry pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?"

"Hey, Perry. We forgot that pep rally school days are short, and we go home early, but mom and dad aren't home and Candace can't pick us up. Can you take us home?"

"Uh… sure. I'll go home and get the hovercar."

"What time will you be here?"

"I'll probably be there in about twenty minutes, if I don't have a wrecky-poo."

"What?"

"Great story. I'll tell you later. Be right there."

* * *

"Sorry that took so long." Perry said, coming into the gym. "I had to escape from a van first- what are you wearing?"

Phineas had on a bubble-wrap hat and a completely khaki outfit. Ferb had on the same, but he had a plastic cape.

"School colors." Phineas said.

"THOSE are your school colors?"

"Oh yes." Ferb sighed. "Clear and khaki."

"World's stupidest school colors ever." Phineas said.

"I'll say. What's your mascot?"

"You don't want to know." Phineas said.

"Seriously, tell me. An invisible bird wearing khaki shorts?"

"Phineas!"

Perry got down on all fours as Benny and Jack ran into the gym. "Hey, you're not going yet, are you?" Benny asked.

"We set up this party in the school yard." Jack said. "It's for all the kids who aren't going home yet. Can you build a party castle or something?"

"Of course!" Phineas said. "Ferb, you wanna help?"

"Um…" Ferb took a step back. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"What's Ferb short for, anyway?" Jack demanded.

"Fra-" Ferb began.

"Is he coming or not?" Benny interrupted rudely.

Ferb shook his head.

"Come on." Phineas said.

"We can build more stuff at home." Ferb said quietly. "And then it'd just be the two of us."

"He LIVES with you." Benny said. "Like he needs time alone with you. He's probably sick of time alone with you by now."

"I'm not..." Phineas said. "Guys, I might have to..."

"What's it gonna be, Phineas?" Jack asked. "Are you going home, or are you going to help us with the biggest party of the century?"

Phineas hesitated.

"Ben! We need cups!" Shouted Buford from far away.

Benny and Jack went outside. Phineas and Ferb stood facing each other.

Phineas scratched his ear. "Um… I guess… if you want to go home, you should." He turned around and followed Benny and Jack.

Ferb stood there for a moment. Perry stood up again.

"He… chose them over me." Ferb said shakily.

"Ferb, he did not. You know you mean everything to him-"

"He chose those jerks over me!" Ferb shouted. He ran from the gym towards the parking lot.

Perry chased after him. "Ferb! Hold up!"

Perry was able to catch up in a few seconds. He grabbed hold of Ferb's pants. "Hold up."

Ferb finally stopped. He covered his eyes, but Perry could see he was crying.

It scared Perry. He had never seen Ferb this upset before. Ferb rarely showed any emotion at all.

"Ferb. Don't take it personally."

"They're… they're right…" He sobbed. "He's sick of me. I'm holding him back."

"Ferb, they're lying. They don't have any idea how Phineas feels. You're just upset right now. You know that's not true."

"I know… how he feels! And he picked them over me! He… he'd rather be with them than me!"

"Ferb, that isn't true. Stop it."

"Then why'd he go with them?" Ferb choked. "Why did he abandon me?"

Perry didn't know how to answer. He gently put a hand on Ferb's shoulder.

"Come on. It's all right. Let's go home, okay?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Ferb, why aren't you talking to me?"

Ferb didn't respond to Phineas. He changed the channel on the television and pretended to be interested in a movie about otters.

"Are you mad?" Phineas asked. He sat down between Ferb and Perry. "I'm sorry I didn't go home with you, but is it such a crime to want to spend time with other friends sometimes?"

Ferb shrugged.

"I wanted you to come with me." Phineas said. "I missed you."

"I wanted you to come, too." Ferb reminded him.

"Ferb, if I made you mad, I want you to tell me why so I can fix it."

"Look at the cute otter."

"Ferb, please." Phineas looked as though he were on the verge of tears. "Did I say something or do something? What did I do?"

"It's not you, okay?" Ferb snapped.

Phineas shrank back. "O… okay. I just thought you were angry with me."

"Well, I'm not." Ferb griped. He changed the channel again.

Phineas's phone rang. He took it out and looked at it. Then he put it back in his pocket and watched Ferb.

Ferb looked cautiously at Phineas's pocket.

"Jack." Phineas said quietly. "I'm just gonna let it ring."

Ferb turned back to the television.

"I really do want to spend time with you." Phineas said. "We haven't done anything together for the past few days."

Ferb nodded. "Okay. We can build something."

Phineas smiled. The two of them got up and went outside.

Perry happily watched them through the window.

* * *

"My body lies over the ocean, my body lies over the sea…"

"Stop watching that!" Perry snapped. He closed Alan the alligator's computer.

"Come on." Alan said. "You shouldn't be embarrassed! You were such a cute little baby!"

"Turn it back on!" Begged Kyle the kangaroo.

Alan reopened the computer. Baby Perry was back on the screen, singing the wrong words to "My bonnie lies over the ocean".

"AWWWW." Cooed the animal agents.

Perry hid his face. "Please. Turn it off. Or at least watch someone ELSE'S baby video."

"Oh yeah!" Alan said. "I almost forgot. I have baby Peter the panda videos!"

"Let's watch the rap one!" Said Edie the elephant.

Alan clicked his mouse, and baby Peter was soon visible.

"Panda! I'm a panda! P-A-N-D-A, WOO! WOO!" Peter sang.

The other agents began to sing along. Perry looked over at Peter. Peter didn't seem to care.

"Panda! I'm a panda! P-A-N-D-A, WOO! WOO!" Baby Peter began to breakdance.

"SO CUTE." Alan said.

"I'm so glad he moved back to Danville." Edie said. "I missed him when he was in Seattle."

"There's a rumor floating around that he moved back because he found a new villain, but the villain left him for another agent." Devon the dog said.

Peter and Perry glanced at each other.

* * *

"I went shopping!" Linda said.

"Cool." Phineas and Ferb were looking over a blueprint together.

Perry sat in the middle of the blueprint, much to the annoyance of his owners.

"I found you two some of that candy you like." Linda said, handing two chocolate bars to the boys. "And I found Perry a new toy."

She gave Perry a little brown teddy bear with a bowtie. Perry took it over to the couch and happily rubbed his face against its soft fur.

"The box said its name was Teddy Snugglebear." Linda said. "And even though it's too soft to last more than a few days around Perry, I thought he'd enjoy it."

"He does seem to like it." Phineas said. "A teddy bear for Perrybear."

"Perrywinkle." Ferb said.

"Don't you ever call me that again." Perry warned, gently pawing at Snugglebear. "Does this couch smell funny?"

Phineas went and reached inside the couch. He pulled out a fuzzy grey-green object with a bite mark taken out of it.

"Steve!" Perry cried. "He's back!"

"But… then what did Ferb eat?" Phineas asked.

"Perhaps the sandwich was so disgusting and alive that it was able to morph into two sandwiches." Ferb said.

"Oh, gross!" Phineas dropped it on the floor and wiped off his hands. "I THINK IT JUST MOVED ON ITS OWN!"

Perry pulled a plastic baggie out of his fur pocket and put Steve inside. "Yep, that's my bite mark, all right! Steve is safe and sound again."

"It's leaking black goo into the bag." Ferb observed.

"OH DUDE." Phineas covered his eyes. "THROW THAT THING OUT!"

"No way!" Perry said defensively. "Steve's a very sentimental sandwich."

* * *

Perry sat by the window, holding Snugglebear in his mouth. It was his day off, but Linda was in the house, so he couldn't watch his soap opera. And with Phineas and Ferb at school, there wasn't really anything for him to do.

Finally the bus drove up to the bus stop. Ferb got out first. He held his hand over his eye. Phineas followed him, looking really worried.

As soon as they came through the door, Phineas called, "Mom?"

"Hang on a second, honey."

"Ferb's hurt."

Linda came running to the door. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He won't tell me."

Linda pulled Ferb's hand away from his eye. It was bruised, and the area around it was bleeding a little. Ferb also had a lot of bruises on his arms.

Perry cringed at the sight.

"Oh, Ferb." Linda said. "What happened?"

Ferb didn't answer.

"It looks like someone hit him." Linda said. "Come on, let's clean that out." She led Ferb into the kitchen.

Phineas was furious. "Who would do that? Who would beat him up?"

Perry knew exactly who would. He climbed down from the window and dragged Snugglebear along with him into the kitchen.

"What's this doing on the table?" Linda said. "Eew."

She picked up the plastic bag that contained Steve and went to throw it away.

"Blubbles." Perry growled.

"Mom? Don't throw that out. It's a science experiment." Phineas said quickly.

"All right, but don't leave it on the kitchen table!" Linda handed the bag to Phineas. Phineas looked as though he were about to throw up. The sandwich steamed innocently from inside the bag.

Linda cleaned Ferb's cuts with a washcloth. Ferb's expression remained neutral.

"Oh, there you are, Perry." Phineas said. When Linda wasn't looking, he slid Steve across the floor to his pet.

Perry hid the baggie in his fur pocket and chewed on Snugglebear.

"I can't believe someone would hit him." Phineas said. "Ferb, who was it?"

Ferb didn't answer.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Phineas begged. "I can help you."

"Just stop asking." Ferb grumbled.

"I'd better go get some antiseptic solution." Linda said, leaving the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

"I'll stop asking when you TELL me!" Phineas said. "Who beat you up?"

"They didn't beat me up! He just punched me in the eye."

"They? There's more than one?"

"Oh, be quiet!"

"Why won't you TELL me?" Phineas shouted.

"Because it was _JACK_!"

As soon as he realized he had spoken the words, Ferb quickly slapped his hand over his mouth.

Phineas just stared at him. He didn't say anything.

Ferb slowly took his hand away from his mouth. "...Ever since Benny and Jack met me, they've been mean to me."

"Benny poured soda on his head and told him you were probably mad that Linda and Lawrence married. I witnessed it." Perry went back to chewing on Snugglebear.

"When you are around, they make fun of me without acting like they're doing it on purpose. And when you aren't, they're horrible. They like you, but they hate me. And I don't know why and I wish I could get them to stop, and I didn't want you to know because I know you really like them and I didn't want to hurt your feelings…" Ferb took a breath. It had probably been the longest he'd ever spoken. "…And so I didn't tell you. I just tried to ignore it."

Phineas didn't move.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Ferb asked quietly.

Phineas swallowed. He had tears in his eyes. "No. No I'm not. It's just… Ferb… WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

He ran from the room. A few minutes later they heard the front door slam.

Ferb touched his eye and flinched.

"Well." Perry said.

* * *

Ferb and Perry were sitting on the couch when Phineas stormed back in, closely followed by Benny and Jack. Benny and Jack were both talking very fast at the same time. It was kind of hard to follow what they were saying.

"I didn't hit him! What makes you think I hit him?"

"He didn't! We're telling the truth. Ferb's just trying to get us in trouble."

"There's no proof I hit him!"

Phineas whirled around and glared at them. Benny and Jack fell silent.

"There's your proof." He said, his voice shaking. He pointed at Ferb.

"Ouch, what happened to your eye?" Jack asked innocently.

"You know what happened to his eye." Phineas said coldly. "Weren't you there when you punched him?"

"Come on. Don't you believe me?" Jack said. "I didn't punch him!"

"No. I don't. Because Ferb would never lie to me."

"How would you know?" Benny said.

"I've lived with him for over half of my LIFE." Phineas snapped. "He's my best friend in the whole world. He's my brother. And he would NEVER LIE TO ME. He's my BEST FRIEND."

"But I thought WE were best friends." Benny said.

"Well, we're not. Not anymore." Phineas pointed at the door. "Go."

"Phineas, you're a really cool guy." Benny said. "And it'd stink to lose you as a friend."

"You should have thought of that before you were rotten to my brother. He's amazing, and you never gave him a chance. You jerks."

Jack looked uncomfortable. "Do you think… if we gave him a chance, we could be friends again?"

Phineas frowned. "Nice try. But I don't give second chances to people who beat up my brother. Get OUT of my HOUSE."

Benny and Jack slunk shamefully out the front door. Phineas closed it behind them and sighed.

"...I'm sorry." Ferb said.

"...Hey, it isn't your fault, bro." Phineas gave him a hug. "Just don't ever let me waste time with people who are mean to you ever again."

Ferb hugged back.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wow. I cannot believe Jack and Benny were so mean." Baljeet said.

Phineas, Ferb, Buford, Baljeet, Isabella and Perry were all sitting on the couch together.

Perry climbed into Baljeet's lap and placed Snugglebear over his arm.

"Eew!" Baljeet squealed. "That is slimy!"  
"He's been chewing on it all day." Phineas said.

"That's so cute!" Isabella said. She took hold of Snugglebear's right leg. "Wanna play tug of war, Perry?"

Perry growled threateningly.

"Okay. Guess not." Isabella released Snugglebear's leg. Perry picked Snugglebear up in his mouth and began to shake him back and forth.

"He's really possessive over that bear." Phineas said. "He won't let anyone touch it. Mom tried to take it from him so she could wash it, and he practically bit her arm off."

Perry continued to shake Snugglebear. Snugglebear hit Buford in the face.

"EW! It IS slimy!" Buford wiped off his face.

Perry was very happy. He rolled over and kicked Snugglebear with his back feet.

"Ferb, don't ever let that happen again." Phineas said. "I don't like knowing that people were hurting you and I didn't do anything. Tell me. Always tell me."

"And tell me, too!" Buford said. "So I can pound them into a meatball!"

Perry grew tried of attacking Snugglebear and climbed over Buford to get to Phineas's lap. He curled up and cuddled Snugglebear.

"Eew! Why is there a green lump on the table?" Isabella asked.

Perry glanced at the table. Steve sat there, still in his plastic baggie.

"I could have sworn that was in my pocket." He chattered.

"The surface is bubbling a little." Ferb said. "See, one of the bubbles just popped."

"I seriously doubt there is any more sandwich left in that sandwich." Phineas said. "I think it's completely made of mold. Oh well. Let's watch Space Adventure Six."

He switched on the television and started up the movie.

Perry purred. Everything was good again.

He was still going to rip Benny apart when he got the chance, though.

**We have all been in some sort of place as either victim or bully. If anyone is hurting you, verbally or physically, make sure you have ****_someone_**** who you can trust and keep them near you as much as possible. A friend, a parent, an authority figure, anyone you feel best can protect you. ALWAYS notify someone you trust if the bullying gets to the point where you feel unsafe.** **Sometimes ignoring the bully doesn't work. We have all been there. Be safe, be careful, and remember that you are never alone. Find someone you can count on.**

**There is always someone out there who loves you. You are not alone.**


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